the opinion of the officials the work is so light and the pauses so considerable as to preclude the possibility of overexertion on the part of the locomotive or train staff. After such a period of work (from 14 to 16 hours) a sufficiently long period of rest must be granted, which shall be arranged to take place in the home of the employee, and, when possible, between the hours of 7 p. m. and 7 a. m. The period of actual presence on the locomotive must not exceed 10 hours per day, and on shunting engines, where the work is practically uninterrupted, 8 hours must constitute the maximum day.

All employees engaged in the operation of the railways are entitled to one free day per month, and members of the locomotive and train staff, who are chiefly employed away from their homes, are entitled to two free days per month. The employees, even when they are regularly employed on Sundays, must be given the opportunity of attending divine service once every two weeks, or at the very least once every three weeks. When this is not allowed by the number of free days otherwise accorded, permission must be granted to the employee and such time must not be deducted from his remaining free time.

The chief problem in regulating the number of hours is the difficulty of determining what constitutes rest and what work. The Prussian regulations define the period of work, in the first place, as the time elapsing between two periods of rest. A period of rest is an uninterrupted period, free from work or from the necessity of holding oneself ready for work, which for all the classes of employees mentioned, except the locomotive and train staff, must be 8 hours in length, and for the locomotive and train staff must be 10 hours if they are at home and 6 hours if they are away from home. Thus, on an excursion train, if the fireman has perfect liberty from 10 a. m. to 3 p. m., this period of 5 hours (being less than 6 hours) is counted as part of his service. When, however, a rest of from 6 to 10 hours at home (which is ordinarily considered work and not rest) follows a period of work which has been preceded by a 10-hour period of rest at home, the second period is also considered rest and not work, and occasionally, on lines of feeble traffic, a period of rest at home of only 8 hours may be considered as rest (and not work) for the locomotive and train staff. The period of work is interpreted as including the time of presence of the employee before the departure and after the arrival of the train, and not merely the time spent upon the train. The other men (those not engaged in the locomotive or train service) must not be employed seven consecutive nights at night service. Free days are only to be considered as such when they follow an uninterrupted period of rest of 12 hours, and including this period amount to at least 24 hours.

HOURS OF LABOR ON PRIVATE RAILWAYS.

The privately owned railways are by no means important in Prussia, and they are so completely overshadowed by the State railways and so subject to State control and supervision that they furnish good examples neither of the advantages nor the defects of private ownership. It is not without interest, however, to compare the hours of labor upon these railways with those on the State railways a comparison which redounds to the advantage of the State system. Of the number considered, of employees engaged directly in the exploitation of the roads, the following are the proportions, grouped according to the hours of labor per day:

Per cent of employees working each specified number of hours per day on State and on privately owned railways compared.

State (a)
Private

Railways.

Employees

Per cent of employees working per day

consid- 8 hours 8 to 10 10 to 12 12 to 13 13 to 14 14 to 15 15 to 16 16 to 17 17 to 18 ered. or less. hours. hours. hours. hours. hours. hours. hours. hours.

109, 081 11.39 12.34 50.95 9.99 9.27 3.26 2.80
2,596

4.09 5.70 29.17 17.72 12.45 11.71 12.33 3.34 3.49

a Not including the Mayence Railway district.

It is very evident that the conditions are better upon the State than upon the private railways. On the State roads 23.73 per cent work 10 hours or less, as compared with only 9.79 per cent on the private railways; and 74.68 per cent, or practically three-fourths of all employed, work 12 hours or less, as compared with only 38.96 per cent on private railways. On the other hand, while only 2.80 per cent of the State-railway employees worked over 15 hours, 19.16 per cent, or almost one-fifth of the private-railway employees, worked this excessive period. It must be observed,

however, that the private railways are not fairly representative, and that the fact that most of them are small lines with feeble traffic accounts for much of the apparently excessive labor.

The proposal is now made to establish upon the private railways in Prussia the same rules in regard to the hours of labor as exist on the State railways.

HOURS OF LABOR AND OF REST OF RAILWAY EMPLOYEES IN PRUSSIA.

The minister of public works of Prussia has made new rules and regulations concerning the hours of labor and of rest of railroad employees. If the duties require unremitting exertion and strict attention, the daily average of the hours of labor of station agents, assistant station agents, telegraphers, switching foremen, overseers of stopping places, and switchmen shall not exceed 8 hours, and the duration of a single task shall not exceed 10 hours. The daily work of railway guards shall not exceed 14 hours. They can, however, be extended to 16 hours on branch lines with little traffic.

The daily hours of labor of the train employees shall, on the average per month, not exceed 11 hours daily; a single task shall not be over 16 hours. Long hours shall only be required if they are succeeded by proportionately long terms of rest. The rest shall be taken at home, and as far as possible shall be during the night. The daily hours of work for the locomotive employees, taken by the average per month, shall not exceed 10 hours, and shall under no circumstances exceed 11 consecutive hours. The same provisions as to rest apply to them as to the train employees.

If the work of the switchmen requires uninterrupted hard work, the average per day shall not exceed 8 hours.

Every person steadily employed in the train service shall have at least 2 days of rest per month. The period of rest of the train and locomotive employees at their respective homes shall not be less than 10 consecutive hours. (United States Labor Bulletin, No. 29, p. 877.)

Saxony. The hours of labor per day on Saxon railways are as a rule rather long. Of a total of 36,713 men, including both Beamten and workmen (Arbeiter), 13,308, or over 36 per cent, work over 12 hours; 8,209, or over 22 per cent, work over 13 hours; 5,773, or 16 per cent, work over 14 hours; and 4,255, or over 11 per cent, work over 15 hours. Usually the amount of time worked differs not with the kind of employment, being smallest where the workmen are grouped together and greatest where the work is easiest or where there are long intermissions. In this respect the men employed in the workshops and the offices are favorably situated. Of 3,976 workshop employees, 3,889, or over 97 per cent, work 10 hours or less, and only 16, or less than one-half of 1 per cent, work over 12 hours. The men employed in the offices are even more fortunate in point of time. Of 1,915 so employed, 1,400, or 73 per cent, are occupied 8 hours or less; 1,805, or 94 per cent, 10 hours or less; while only 10 men, or one-half of 1 per cent, are employed more than 12 hours. The station hands work much longer hours. Of these, less than 6 per cent work 10 hours or less; 1,484, or 37 per cent, work over 12 hours; 866, or 21 per cent, work over 13 hours; 527, or 13 per cent, work over 14 hours; and 401, or 10 per cent, work over 15 hours. But the most disadvantageously situated in this regard are the men employed in the surveillance of the track and in the train and locomotive service. Of the 2,220 track men employed in the surveillance of the road, only 2 per cent work 10 hours or less, while 1,323, or almost three-fifths of the whole number, are employed over 15 hours. In the locomotive service two-thirds of the men are employed over 12 hours, one-half of them over 13 hours, two-fifths over 14 hours, while almost three-tenths are employed over 15 hours per day.

These figures, which are for the month of June, 1897, are inclusive of pauses, which for the locomotive and train service sometimes included intermissions which may be 4 hours, or even more, in length, and in the case of the locomotive staff may occasionally amount to 10 hours a day. The very long hours are, moreover, not to be considered as the regular day's service of any group of men.

If, for example, there are 14 men employed at a police station who work 10 hours a day except on 2 days, when they work 12 hours, five-sevenths of the 14, or 10 men, are counted as working 10 hours, and two-sevenths, or 4 men, as working 13 hours, although no one of the 14 men works 13 hours continuously. The long hours are partly to be accounted for in this way and partly to the pauses, which might be deducted in order to get the actual amount of real work. The statistics given also include the midday meal when less than an hour is granted for that purpose. When more than an hour is allowed, the time is deducted from the length of the workingday. It must also be remembered that the excessively long hours usually take place on lines of feeble traffic, where relief is difficult and the work comparatively easy,

so that the overwork is not so excessive or so wearing as might appear from the statistics. The following table, showing employees and hours of labor per day, has been taken from the latest available report (1897) on Saxon railways:

Employees and hours of labor per day on Saxon railways, 1897.

Switzerland. The hours of labor on Swiss railways have been regulated by a Federal law passed in 1890. The law, which concerns not only railways but steamboats, posts, and all other transportation agencies, whether chartered or managed by the Confederation, is exceedingly radical. It provides that the maximum day for all employees, in so far as the exigencies of the traffic require an unusual period of work, shall not exceed 12 hours. Both the train and locomotive staff and other employees are to enjoy a daily uninterrupted period of rest of at least 9 hours, except where the employee lives in the station or along the line, in which cases the minimum period of rest is 8 hours. After about one-half the period of work has elapsed, the employee has the right to an interruption of at least an hour.

The most important provision of the law relates to free days, and above all to free Sundays. By a former Federal statute, passed in 1872, the employee was guaranteed a number of free Sundays; but this provision was generally disregarded, and in the supplementary law, passed February 14, 1878, this provision was, at the instance of the railway companies, omitted. It has been revived, however, by the law of 1890, and made the central feature of the whole scheme of the reform of the period of work. The law provides that all employees shall annually receive 52 free days, distributed through the year in a convenient and reasonable manner, and of these 17 must fall upon Sundays. The companies are not entitled to make a deduction from wages in consideration of these free days. Sunday freight traffic must entirely cease, with the exception of express traffic of merchandise or cattle. When rendered necessary by special circumstances various provisions of this law may be exceptionally suspended. Contraventions of the law are punished by a fine not exceeding 500 francs ($96.50) for the first offense, and not exceeding 1,000 francs ($193) for subsequent offenses. The surrender on the part of an employee of the privilege of having any given day free does not exculpate the company for depriving him of subsequent free days.

In carrying out the law a number of difficulties were encountered, and at first considerable friction ensued. In a special report made by the board of inspectors of Swiss railways to the Federal department of post and railways on March 30, 1892, with regard to the carrying into execution of the law of 1890, several of these difficulties were pointed out. The railways complained that it was impossible to obey the law, and that it was particularly difficult to put a stop to Sunday freight traffic, especially in view of the increase of business in 1891. They had, therefore, requested that the law be not put into operation at all until June 1, 1891, and that it should not be completely executed until June 1, 1893. The difficulties, however, were exaggerated, and it was found that by January 1, 1891, the Gothard company had completely stopped its freight service, and by August 1 all the other great companies had, with one partial exception, ceased to carry slow freight on Sundays. The Gothard and Central railways found it possible within a few months after the passage of the law to give the men, with a few exceptions, the contemplated number of hours of rest. In certain stations on the Central and on other railways it was at first found impossible to

obtain the additional men necessitated by the new conditions of traffic, but during the summer this difficulty was obviated. The Federal Council, however, saw itself compelled, during the month of September, 1891, to grant the companies permission to revive their Sunday slow-freight traffic from September 27 to November 15, owing to the heavy autumn traffic, and in order to permit the trucks to be properly utilized. On the whole, however, it was clearly recognized, as early as 1892, that the anticipations of the companies had been too pessimistic, and that the law in its main provisions could be carried out. The most difficult feature of the law was the granting of 17 Sundays per year, and while the prohibition of slow-freight traffic rendered the granting of the free days easier, it did not suffice in all cases. Thus, for example, the Jura-Simplon Railway had developed a great amount of cheap Sunday excursion traffic, and the men who were freed from the freight business were thus absorbed by the increasing of the passenger traffic. The board of inspectors, however, who were charged with the execution of the law, held that the free Sundays to the employees were of greater importance than the excursion travel to the public, especially as much of this traffic might easily be created and accommodated on week days if the fares were reduced, and insisted upon obedience to the statute.

Present appearances point to an approaching attempt at a revision of the law of 1890. Since the passage of the law the demands of the men have been growing, and it is now hoped that a law will be passed by the council that will be still more favorable to the employees, or that the present law will be revised in this sense. The chief demand that is now made is the establishment of a 10 hours' maximum. The companies seem willing to compromise on 11 hours, but the leaders among the railway employees insist upon a further concession. It is also expected to obtain for the men, if possible, the granting of a week's leave of absence over and above the 52 free days now conceded, and to insist that the free days shall be preceded and followed by nights off duty. (U. S. Labor Bulletin No. 20.)

Italy (decree of June 10, 1900).

Regulations to be observed by the railway companies in formulating the schedule of working turns, so as to insure the safe operation of the road.

I. LOCOMOTIVE PERSONNEL.

ENGINEERS, FIREMEN.

ARTICLE 1. The hours of labor will be considered as:

(a) The time required for service on the train, computed from the moment when the employee is required to be present on duty, or at the station to take charge of the locomotive, until the time when he is permitted to leave, including rests of not more than 1 hours' duration;

(b) The time required to go on the train to a given locality to take service and to return;

(c) The time required for switching and making up the train;

(d) The fourth part of any time during which the personnel must remain on duty simply in reserve, and during which they are not required to remain near the locomotive; and also the time during which the personnel must remain on the spot subject to call; the interval, however, during which the personnel is required to be present on the locomotive and in readiness to start to the relief of any train will be counted as a full period of labor;

(e) Any time whatever that is required for work about the locomotive.

ART. 2. The average duration of daily labor, determined as above, inclusive of the reserve days and the rests, as in following articles, must not exceed 10 hours.

ART. 3. In any one period of 24 hours the duration of labor, calculated according to article 1, must not exceed 13 hours.

When, however, the duration of labor exceeds 12 hours the intervals of rest preceding and following the period of labor must be at least 10 hours.

ART. 4. The personnel must be allowed a continuous rest of 8 hours' duration between each turn when at home and of 7 hours when away from home, utilizing in the latter case, when occasion arises, the time when simply in reserve or subject to call, as specified in article 1 (d).

The continuous rests must be separated by intervals (actual labor, presence on duty, brief rests during working hours, etc.) of not more than 17 hours, and the number in each working turn must not be less than the number of days over which the turn extends.

When it is not possible to accord 8 hours of rest at home the difference must be compensated for by a longer period of rest, either before or after the deviation from this rule, and also by a brief rest during working hours, but the repose must not be less than 7 hours.

ART. 5. Among the continuous rests at home prescribed by the preceding article there must be at least 12 per year of the duration of 24 hours each, without prejudice to the annual vacation prescribed by the regulations.

II. TRAIN PERSONNEL.

CONDUCTORS, GUARDS, BRAKEMEN.

ART. 6. The hours of labor will be considered as:

(a) The time employed on the trip according to the train schedule;

(b) the time required for accessory occupations before the departure and after the arrival of the train, counting the whole interval between the arrival of a train and the departure on a subsequent train when this interval is not longer than 1 hour;

(c) One-fourth of the time during which the employee, while not en route, remains in reserve at the station subject to call when needed.

ART. 7. The average duration of daily labor as determined above must not exceed 11 hours per turn (including time in reserve and rest during working hours).

ART. 8. In any one period of 24 consecutive hours the duration of labor, computed as specified in article 6, must not exceed 15 hours.

When, however, the duration of labor exceeds 14 hours the intervals of rest between which the said period of labor is comprised must be at least 10 hours.

ART. 9. The personnel must be accorded a continuous rest of at least 8 hours' duration between each turn when at home, and of at least 7 hours when away from home. The continuous rests must be separated by intervals (actual labor, presence on duty, rest during work, etc.) of not more than 17 hours, and the number in each working turn must not be less than the number of days over which the turn extends.

When, however, the time is interrupted by one or more periods of inaction of not less than 4 hours, the intervals between the periods of continuous rest may be prolonged, exceptionally, to 19 hours, in which case the rest following must be at least 10 hours long.

When it is not possible to accord the 8 hours' rest at home, the difference must be compensated for by a longer period of rest, either before or after the deviation from this rule, and also by a brief rest during working hours. But the rest must not be less than 7 hours.

ART. 10. Among the continuous rests at home prescribed by the preceding article, there must be at least 12 per year of the duration of 24 hours each, without prejudice to the annual vacation prescribed by the regulations.

III. STATION PERSONNEL.

CHIEF AND ASSISTANT STATION MASTERS, CLERKS AND ASSISTANTS, TELEGRAPHERS, YARD MASTERS, SWITCHMEN, BLOCK-SIGNAL MEN, FOREMEN OF LABORERS, GANG BOSSES, LABORERS.

ART. 11. For every period of 24 hours the duration of labor must be established according to the nature, intensity, and continuity of the normal labor of the personnel: Up to 10 hours, in cases where the conditions of work are more severe or difficult; Up to 14 hours, in cases of ordinary work, in which there must be included an intermission of 2 hours or 2 intermissions of 1 hour each;

In exceptional cases, up to 16 hours, in small stations, when there must be an intermission of 4 hours, either at one time or at smaller intervals of not less than 1 hour each.

To the provisions of this article will be added special regulations establishing the maximum time that the switchmen may be put to work in the signal cabins.

ART. 12. Whenever the day and night turns of service alternate, the personnel may not be assigned to continuous night service for more than 7 consecutive nights. The change of turns is affected by prolonging the service of 1 day up to 16 hours, preceded or followed by a continuous rest of equal duration.

ART. 13. In every period of 24 hours there must be accorded the personnel a continuous rest of 7 or 8 hours, according as the homes of the personnel are in the vicinity of the station or not.